Zambia Musings

It's definitely winter here, and I hear the UK has been having some particularly good weather the last few days. The temperature has been down to about 8-9 degrees at night and is just about struggling to the early 20s at lunchtime. Even so, the weather news on the television last night said that Chipata was the warmest place in the country. In the last week I have gone from one blanket on my bed to three; at least it means the mozzies have given up on me for a bit!

Speaking of television, I have joined the Sisters in becoming addicted to a Venezuelan soap called 'Mis 3 Hermanas' (my 3 sisters), on Tuesday and Friday nights (power supplies permitting). I mentioned it a few blogs back when I walked in on the Sisters discussing it. It's melodramatically acted and badly plotted, scripted and dubbed but unmissable. Football is also a favourite here- the Man U/Chelsea match in Moscow was particularly exciting a few weeks ago (I supported Chelsea as the blue is the same as the Sisters' habits). The adverts are also ace. My favourite is for 'Boam Insecticide', which has a merry little ditty alongside pictures of trays of dead cockroaches and a man with rubber gloves. The water company advertises where its next mass disconnections will be (so pay your bills!) alongside the slogan something like 'Going the extra mile service'. I also saw an advert warning customers of a utility that there may be a few problems over the next few weeks as there was a big data migration exercise to improve service- wish I could have recorded it to show at the 'First Thursday' event at work! However, I was surprised to see the news one day with a female newsreader alongside a caption telling the viewer the address of the hairdresser in Lusaka where she has her coiffure done. Since we only have the one TV station, the state-run ZNBC, there are also numerous lengthy but tedious reports of whatever ministers are announcing or conferences they are attending (usually in the best hotels in Lusaka) discussing the development situation. It's also odd sitting in a convent watching health information presentations to use condoms.

The Sisters have started receiving the crops from the convent farm; a large pile of maize was deposited outside the house- this will be ground and then gradually turned into nsima over the next year. Groundnuts have also arrived, and they are spread out to dry in the back yard.

Top topic of conversation in the last week has been the visit of ex-Bishop Milingo and his wife to Lusaka which has created a fair stir. As the Bishop of Lusaka, he was excommunicated from the Church back in 2006 for ordaining married men, having already tried the authorities' patience by marrying in a Moonie ceremony himself 6 years previously and expressing other unorthodox beliefs. The Post newspaper has been avidly read, as the Bishop comes from Chipata, and he was known very well and personally by those with whom I am working and living. For some he is something of a joke- if you want to get married, why wait till your 70s when you may not enjoy it quite as much? I hope to bring home some copies of the newspaper with some interviews with him, which are quite amusing.

Have also been out to see the new railway which is gradually being built between Lilongwe in Malawi and Chipata- appears to only be single track. Will be great to bring in goods from Malawi, but it's not clear what will happen at Chipata, as there will certainly be increased traffic all the way down to Lusaka, and the road's not great as it is...

Work is tootling along well and my efforts are finally starting to bear fruit. All but one of the offices now have a very smart set of boxfiles- will be creating my 'after' photos shortly. I was also invited out to lunch when the field officers came into town for meetings, and you can see some photos here. The bowls are on the table are provided for people to wash their hands before and after eating- nsima is eaten by hand, and there is a very clever technique of rolling it around in the palm to get the texture right. The most popular dish in the photos is 'fish 'n' nsima'. The small bowls contain a mild curry sauce. I've also had a visit from VSO to see how the placement is getting on. Was expecting my employer to be closely grilled as to whether I was delivering and whether they had got what was expected. However, was more of a general chat between the three of us, and, I believe, it passed off well. After the formal discussion, I took the VSO programme officer around all the offices to see the work which had been done and was in progress. I was very gratified that, even with no prior warning, all the staff were happy to stand next to their documentation, describe what we'd been doing and how their lives have been improved as a result. I also hope that there will be closer links in future, as both VSO and my employer have a Food Security section and I am sure there can be things learned through sharing. As a consultant in my day job, I just wish all my clients were this satisfied...
We also had a visit from Barclays Bank to encourage staff to take out accounts and loans. Banking is far more expensive here in Zambia; there is a monthly charge, a minimum must be kept in the account and there is a fee for every withdrawal. Loans appear expensive from a UK perspective- about 30% depending on how much is borrowed, and mortgages are only slightly less.

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